Help with Diefenbakia and Yucca Plant, Pls

Hi,
edk at nortel.ca wrote:
: I have two Yucca plants and a Diefenbakia that is spreading very sticky
: sap on the floor underneath it. It is attracting ants and my husband is
: threatening to throw them out. I have seen certain leaves on the yucca
: plant with sticky yellow spots on them which I cut off as soon as I see
: them. The dief. is sticky on its leaves all the time.
It is normal that Dieffenbachia plants produce liquid to some extend.
This is called guttation. But guttation drops usually appear at the tips
of the leaves. Try to reduce watering a little bit. This might help. Be
careful when getting in contact with the sap. It may cause irritation of
the skin. If the liquid is sticky it may as well be caused by parasites.
Check this up first.
As Yuccha are inhabitants of dryer areas they are not used in getting
rid of surplus water like the rainforest-inhabiting Dieffenbachia. So this
seems to be a problem with parasites.
Plants with ridgid leaves can be showered with an emulsion of paraffin
oil in water to suffocate parasites.
But get yourself informed before about how to this. Wrong handling
might damage the plant as well.
Bye,
Kerstin